Posts Tagged ‘2801’

So, I know passengers like and appreciate the N Judah Express, but why is MUNI putting so much effort into this new line?

See? There’s the 5:00 PM bus, and the 5:10 PM, and the 5:20PM, and guess what’ll be coming around the corner soon? That’s right, it must be the 5:30 PM:

Click to expand

Camera right shows one of the two starters used by MUNI to make sure the 5:00 PM leaves at exactly 5:00 PM. (Count how many MUNI workers are hanging out at your bus stop today – I’ll bet it’s less than five. Probably it’s zero.)

OK.

I mean, is MUNI going to start following timetables religiously, like Japanese-style, for all its lines now?

The SFMTA has been itching to charge $3 for express rides, right? Does that mean that MUNI loses more on this line than others?

So, yes MUNI, you are trying hard here, but I don’t think you can afford it.

I think, for some reason, you are taking resources from other lines and putting them right here.

Posterior. Rather less blue, but that solid-colored rectangle is your visual cue to start running for the Nx before the driver takes off.

I don’t see a bunch of people clamoring to get into these things just yet. We’ll see.

All right Chapter II: Empty by Design.

After the drivers drop off passengers way out there near La Playa or 47th Aveneue or whatever, they turn around and head back to the Financh empty.

What? Really. The plan is for the drivers to “dead-head” on back downtown sans passengers.

(Wonder if you could get on at the last stop outbound with the intent of coming into the Financial without any stops at all? That would be the Nx Judah Express to the Second Power, or something. But, they’d probably kick you off, so oh well.)

Like I say, this program reminds me of the failed CultureBus, which Nat Ford still hails as a success.

Obviously, you can’t have an N Judah streetcar run an express route on the same tracks as regular N Judah service. And obviously, the SFMTA just can’t add more N’s, for whatever reason. Oh well.

And in mitigation, MUNI’s not out there cheerleading for this saying how great an idea it is, you know, the way it happened with Gavin Newsom’s CultureBus. And, when I checked the Next MUNI today, those Nx’es looked verily like rabbits, easily outpacing the N Judahs that started at about the same time.